In a major breakthrough for India's counter-terrorism efforts, Jammu and Kashmir Police have nabbed Mohammad Katari, the shadowy logistics enabler who supplied weapons and gear to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants behind the horrific April 22 Pahalgam attack. The arrest, confirmed by sources to NDTV on Wednesday evening, stems from forensic sleuthing on arms seized during the high-stakes Operation Mahadev in July – a grueling operation that wiped out two of the gunmen responsible for gunning down 26 innocent tourists in the idyllic Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam.
Katari, whose support network kept the terrorists armed and mobile, faces court appearance soon and judicial remand, marking the first significant arrest post-Op Mahadev. This development signals the Modi government's unyielding pursuit of every thread in the Pahalgam web, vowing to dismantle the terror ecosystem fueling such atrocities.
The April 22 bloodbath – the deadliest in Kashmir in nearly two decades – saw LeT operatives, a Pakistan-based outfit, methodically question victims about their faith before executing them in a brazen sectarian slaughter. A splinter faction of LeT swiftly claimed the carnage, which shattered the fragile peace in the tourist haven and ignited a full-blown Indo-Pak crisis.
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Operation Mahadev, kicking off on May 22, was a masterclass in patience and precision. Acting on a tip about LeT hideouts in Dachigam's dense forests near Srinagar, Indian security forces – blending Army intel, cyber intercepts, and elite ops – shadowed the suspects for weeks. They cracked encrypted chatter via China-sourced T82 comms devices, turning the militants' tech lifeline into their downfall.
The July 28 finale was surgical: At 8 a.m., a drone buzzed overhead for eyes-on confirmation. By 9:30 a.m., Rashtriya Rifles and Special Forces commandos stormed in. Visuals locked targets at 10 a.m., and gunfire erupted an hour later. One wounded terrorist fell trying to flee at 11:45 a.m.; by 12:45 p.m., all three were neutralized. Among the dead: Suleiman Shah, aka Hashim Musa, the ex-Pakistani Army commando turned LeT enforcer and alleged architect of the Pahalgam horror.
Shah's rap sheet was a terror timeline. A veteran of Pakistan's elite Special Service Group, he defected to LeT under UN-sanctioned kingpin Hafiz Saeed, infiltrating India in September 2023. By October 2024, he'd orchestrated a civilian massacre killing seven; another Baramulla ambush claimed four soldiers' lives. "He was the brain behind the bullets," a source revealed.
The haul from Mahadev was damning: AK-47s, M9 assault rifles, and a trove of gear shipped to a Chandigarh lab for ballistic matchmaking. Firing test rounds generated casings that perfectly aligned with Pahalgam's crime scene empties. As Union Home Minister Amit Shah thundered in Parliament: "We generated empty bullet shells by firing these rifles and matched them to those found in Pahalgam. It was confirmed that these rifles were used to murder innocent civilians."
This forensic smoking gun led straight to Katari, whose logistical fingerprints were all over the weapons pipeline.
The Pahalgam outrage didn't just scar Kashmir; it scorched bilateral ties. India, long accusing Pakistan's "deep state" of bankrolling cross-border jihad, hit back hard. First came the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, choking irrigation to over half of Pakistan's farmlands in a water-war gambit. Then, on May 7, Operation Sindoor unleashed fury: Precision missile barrages hammered nine terror camps and training hubs in Pakistan and PoK.
Pakistan's retaliation – drone swarms and missile volleys – was swatted down by Indian air defenses, exposing Islamabad's crumbling shield. After 100 hours of escalating hellfire, a battered Pakistan sued for ceasefire as its networks lay in ruins. In the rubble's wake, PM Narendra Modi unveiled a bolder red line: "India now has a more forceful doctrine on responding to terror attacks on its soil – no mercy, no half-measures."
As Katari's cuffs click, the Pahalgam ghosts demand justice, but the shadow war simmers on. With LeT's tentacles still twitching, India's hounds are baying louder than ever.
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